There we go! Chapter three!
Writing this chapter has been the most painful thing I've done in a while. No, it's not because I dislike writing this story or anything. It's because of the following reasons.
1 - Swapping between first and third person depending on whether I'm writing this or Empyrean is kind of hard. Honestly considering whether or not I should just concentrate on one fic for a while, and let the other kinda gestate in the meanwhile.
2 - IRL shit happened, some stuff with my knees. I honestly thought it was early-onset arthritis or something. Thankfully, it was just an injury I got while working out that I ignored too long.
3 - Work shit's been bad. Like, I get there's alway some crunch time before the winter holidays, but this year was frankly horrible. I'm honestly thinking about changing jobs, but we'll see about that.
Anyways, here's chapter 3 of this story. Again, I haven't found a beta reader yet, so I'm still looking for one for both this story and for Empyrean. You can DM me here or on my discord server (link at the end of the chapter) if you want to apply!
The first thing that hit me was that there was no smell in the air.
Kuoh wasn't a substantial town, but nothing was ever too far from industry in Japan. I'd been breathing that air for years. So it was the lack of that 'tang' in the air that caught me off guard.
I didn't get to experience this last time, what with the fact that I was summoned to Kyoto, which was on fire.
The only reason I knew this was even the same world was because of what I sensed in front of me.
From the cliff I stood on, I could see an old Japanese village nestled in the valley below. The village looked like it had seen better days, considering the general destruction that littered it, as well as its surroundings.
From this distance, it was hard to see what was going on in the village, but with my ability to sense cursed energy always active, it was hard for me to miss the green-tinged dark light of cursed energy, flickering like candle flames in a sea of trees and buildings.
Of course, I'd found cursed energy in my world, but it was limited to the occult. Even there, the quantity of cursed energy was different.
Rain was the lowest of low when it came to power, and yet, the amount of cursed energy that I had sensed from him far dwarfed the sources I felt in the village and the woods surrounding it.
It was like comparing sparks to a bonfire.
Yet, it was here, and that, combined with the general architecture of the village, was enough to convince me that yes, I was exactly in the same world I'd ended up in last time.
I was brought out of my ruminations by a notification.
World Quest Unlocked: Heian Hell
Main Quest: ?
Subquest 1:Defend The Fujiwara Clan Compound
Subquest 2:?
I looked between the notification window and the village and things clicked into place. The flickering sources of Cursed energy could be broadly categorized into two types, and the inherent knowledge that came with my skills was enough to tell me that the majority of cursed energy sources in and around the town were not human.
Cursed Spirits.
I had yet to see one, much less face one in combat. Guess I'd get to do both today.
Plus I had a new technique to try out.
Touki was pure instinct. It was the power of life itself, and that was both a blessing and a curse for me. As I sped towards the compound, my speed enhanced far past human levels due to the slight application of Toki and Cursed Energy, the shortcoming of Toki was made apparent to me.
My body was human, and not trained to the level needed to even unlock this energy. The theory of Toki was clear to me. You either unlocked it by learning Senjutsu, the energy of the world, or through a level of training and self-improvement that could only be described as obsessive.
I'd done neither, and I was a human, so the amount of Toki I could generate was paltry when compared to someone like Wukong.
Still, Toki itself was a force multiplier, and with the boost I got from cursed energy, it stacked multiplicatively.
Running through the forest trails at speeds that give challenge to the fastest of supercars, I realized that I would have to truly pump up my training regimen to get the best out of this ability.
No pain, no gain after all.
I was now within a hundred meters of the closest sources of cursed energy. One strong step and I burst through the trees, coming out in a small clearing and catching my first glance of a cursed spirit.
"What…the fuck?" I stammered, and what else could I have said? In front of me was a creature that looked like someone had mashed together a dog and one of those overly cartoonish cupid illustrations that showed up around Valentine's day.
It was grotesque, and the fact that it was feasting on the corpse of a dead soldier had nothing to do with that fact.
It saw me the moment I entered the clearing, but it was too late. While I was momentarily shocked by its appearance I didn't give it the chance to so much as move before I punched it, blowing straight through it.
Okay, maybe the combination of cursed energy and Touki was a bit busted against creatures of this caliber.
Still, the forest was teeming with them, and they'd make for a nice appetizer before making it to the compound.
After all, the cursed energy signatures only got stronger the closer they were to the compound.
"Not strong enough, apparently."
I pulled at the spear I'd picked up earlier from a dead soldier. The Cursed Spirits had gotten stronger, as I had predicted. They also got progressively more humanoid, which was an interesting experience.
Some could even speak, even though all they did was repeat basic phrases, which made it even more chilling.
The spear came out with a sickening squelch from the corpse of the largest Cursed Spirit I'd killed yet. It was around the size of a hatchback, and twice as tall, with many misshapen arms and no legs to speak of.
I had barely retrieved the spear before the body dispersed into Cursed energy, making me wonder why I'd bothered even pulling it out.
Another question was more poignant, I'd snuffed out every cursed spirit that I'd seen on my way here, only to find that the only humans alive were in the main house, a building so large that it dwarfed everything else in this little village of sorts.
Whoever the Fujiwara clan were, they were fucking loaded, that was for sure.
They were also not weak, considering the few signatures I could make out in the compound. Their cursed energy signatures dwarfed those of even the strongest cursed spirits I'd destroyed in the area.
Yet, their cursed energy was running wild, like a flame dancing in the wind. Negative emotion, a lot of it, and looking at the corpses of well-armed soldiers and civilians that lay on the blood-drenched path leading to the main house, the source of the negative emotion was obvious.
Pain, fear, hatred, anger.
And it was all pointed at the person standing under the torii gate, atop the staircase that led towards the main house.
I couldn't tell if they were a boy or a girlm but they were short, younger than even me, possibly. They wore the clothes of a nondescript monk, not buddhist, not taoist, yet a monk nonetheless.
Chin-length white hair framed their androgynous face, as their cold pink eyes stared straight into my soul, no doubt taking a measure of me, and of the fact that I was dressed in a hoodie and jeans, fashion that probably hadn't caught on in the Heian era.
"Master took care of the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad," They spoke, their face still locked in the same emotionless expression. "The Five Empty generals fell when they decided to face master."
Even their voice was perfectly androgynous, coulda have been a girl, coulda have been a girly boy.
"No clue who either of those are, cutie." I smirked back, and was rewarded by a slight scowl on their face… as well as a slight dusting of pink on their cheeks.
Huh, guess Angel's Grace really changed how people perceived me.
"You're too uncouth to come from nobility, yet you walk with a grace that nobility would envy." They spoke, taking a step down the staircase. "You wear clothes the type of which I have never seen, and you have killed every cursed spirit that was drawn to this place."
"Yeah, I'm pretty great," I spoke, resting the bottom of my spear on the ground. "But, I'm more interested in you. You're standing between corpses, and yet you don't look one bit scared."
They looked at the corpses around them, almost like they hadn't noticed them yet. When they turned to face me again, it was with a soft smile on their face, an expression that looked very, very wrong.
"Why would I be scared when surrounded by my master's art?" They said. "The Fujiwara clan tried to kill us. This is the consequence of their actions."
"Your master must be a pretty sick freak, huh?" I spoke and saw the smile disappear from their face, replaced instead by an ugly scowl. A spine-chilling cold spread out over the area, as tendrils of cursed energy spread around them.
"Just who do you think you're disrespecting?"
The attack wasn't slow, it would have been nigh impossible for a normal human to reach this speed, but neither I, not my opponent were normal humans.
As I blocked a swipe of their ice-encased fingers with the shaft of my spear, I saw their expression change into something resembling shock. And then into fear as I overpowered them pulling my spear back and chopping away the offending fingers.
They backed away fast, as I looked at the fingers on the ground.
"Huh, guess you really are human. With the kind of cursed energy you got there, I was doubtful for a second." I sighed, resting the spear over my shoulders. "That's one mystery solved, think you can help me with the other one?"
They didn't respond, but I followed their cursed energy as they activated their own reverse cursed technique, regrowing their fingers.
"And what would that be?" They asked, their expression was back to neutral, yet that did nothing to hide the myriad emotions visible in their eyes.
"You a girl or a twink?" I asked and saw their eyes widen.
"What… what's a twink?" They asked, an embarrassed blush on their face, and with that, I had my answer.
"Doesn't matter. So, you're a guy, huh?" I spoke, taking a step closer, and to my surprise, he took a step back. I had him spooked, and it wasn't because I'd cut off the twink's fingers.
"How?" Was all he asked, and I could feel a grin form unbidden on my face.
"You wouldn't have look so scandalized if you were a girl," I explained, the cocky smirk unwilling to leave my face. "Sure, you could have still asked what a 'twink' is, but the way you reacted was enough for me to deduce that you're a guy."
"Just like it's easy to deduce why you're here." I continued, relishing in the look of pure confusion. "You said your master took down those guys with the chunni-ass squad names. Yet, there are people in that house. People your master either couldn't kill, or more likely, didn't bother to kill."
"You're here to clean house, ain't ya?" I finished, pointing my spear at his shocked face.
Yet, the shock faded fast, replaced yet again with that look of perfect apathy. "The Fujiwara Clan have been an annoyance to the master for too long. It is best that they be removed so that they don't follow any stupid notions of revenge."
"Considering your master let them be, he doesn't think they are worth his time. Yet, here you are." I spoke, walking up to the corpse of a soldier lying dead next to a building. "You're not following his order, are you?"
"You speak like you know my master." He spoke. His gaze didn't leave me for a second as I popped a squat next to the bifurcated body.
"Oh, course I do," I spoke, pointing at the body, then to the perfectly cut wall behind him. "That's Sukuna's technique."
"Cursed Technique: Ice formation."
My body moved on autopilot as I jumped high, dodging the spires of ice that erupted from the ground under me. I landed on the roof of a house, looking down on the spiked towers of ice, and the dead bodies that hung from them.
"Someone who has seen my master's technique yet still lives to tell the tale." He spoke, forcing me to dodge a hail of sharp icicles. "I cannot suffer someone like you to exist."
"Why?" I asked, moving constantly, dodging the hail of crystal Ice flying at me from all sides. I crashed through a pillar of ice, blocking the boy's view as I did.
"Because you'll end up being another annoyance for my lord. If any annoyance to him exists, it is my job to remove it from his path." He spoke, barraging me with another set of sharp ice staves.
"That's some real dedication right there." I quipped, jumping over the staves and closing the gap to the boy. A moment of surprise crossed over his face, as my speed, enhanced by both cursed energy and Touki, was far too fast for someone of his abilities to dodge.
Or so I thought, as I noticed a thin mist surround me.
"Frost Calm"
I didn't even get time to dodge as the mist around me started to rapidly transform into ice. To the layman, the transformation might as well have been instant. For me, it was quick, but not fast enough to be a sure kill.
I threw my spear first to distract the boy. True to its purpose, the blade of the spear embedded itself deep into the boy's sternum. It didn't stop there, as the momentum of the throw carried the boy into a wall, sticking him to it.
With my hands freed, I thew a punch at the iceberg forming around me, controlling my cursed energy to the very limit, trying to recall the exact set of sensations I'd felt when I landed my first Black Flash.
The sparks of black failed me.
The attack was no black flash, but it was enough to break some ice, affording me enough time to throw one more attack. As my fingers, shredded by their collision with the hard ice, repaired themselves via the reverse cursed technique, I realized something.
With the reinforcement of Touki and the regeneration afforded by the reverse cursed technique, I could safely pull more cursed energy to my limbs without destroying them. And within a single moment, the three techniques coalesced as my fist met the ever-expanding ice.
The iceberg exploded.
Shards of ice rained down around me as I stepped forth. The cold had frozen my hoodie and t-shirt solid, so as I moved, they crumbled, leaving me shirtless in the cold. Not that it mattered, Touki did an incredible job at protecting my skin from the elements. The denim of my jeans fared slightly better, thankfully.
I'm not sure Angel's Grace could save me from the embarrassment that would have followed otherwise.
"If I survived your master, what makes you believe you can kill me?" I spoke, taking determined steps closer to my quarry.
The spear I had picked up earlier, just like my clothes, had not reacted well to the biting cold, and especially not to the strength I'd thrown it with. Only the blade remained intact, what with it being metal. It lay on the ground next to the boy, who was already healing from his injury.
"You are strong, I admit." The boy spoke, his exhaustion visible in his eyes. "Yet, you lack technique. Brute strength will not take you far against my master."
There was a hint of truth in his words. While I was incomparably stronger than what I was when I last met Sukuna, I did not know how I could counter that technique of his. Hell, I didn't know how anyone could.
"I mean, look at you, twink. All the techniques in the world didn't stop you from getting shafted by me." I commented.
"Compared to my master, I am but an insignificant insect." He spoke, circling sideways, trying to block off any avenue of escape for me. I could see it on his face that he knew this wasn't a fight he could win.
I also knew that nothing is more dangerous than a cornered animal.
That, plus my new technique, awesome as it was, expended a metric shit ton of cursed energy and Touki. Even using it for a few minutes put an immense amount of strain on my reserves.
There was also the pain.
It felt like my body was on fire in the literal sense. The excess cursed energy was ripping my muscles, my skin. My body was only holding its shape because Touki formed a natural barrier. It was the only reason I could use the reverse cursed technique as effectively. The technique would work the repairs as long as I maintained the shape.
But by the gods, it did nothing to lessen the pain.
"You're dangerous." The boy spoke as crystalline lattices of ice formed around him.
"I cannot let you reach master at any cost." He monotoned as the sharpened pikes of ice fired at me. I responded in kind, whizzing straight past the projectiles, only to be surprised as the spears exploded while I was passing by them. The only reason I was able to dodge the impromptu rain of sharp ice shards was because my velocity carried me right past them.
Yet, it seemed like the shards had a mind of their own. The shards froze together in midair and shot out towards me like tendrils. I jumped to avoid them, but they followed, turning ninety degrees.
Out of options and suspended in midair, I had no option but to tank the ability. The ice shattered against my Touki, knocking me higher into the air, as opposed to poking holes in my body.
A quick look at the boy told me that he'd been expecting a quick kill, not for me to be sent airborne. Even surrounded by ice, the boy was sweating, his brow knit in an expression of immense concentration.
It was time to test a theory.
"Eyes up, twink!" I yelled as I descended. The tendrils of ice roce up to skewer me again, but this time, I was ready.
Lashing out with my right foot, I decimated the first spike of ice that reached me. The force of the kick was enough to vaporize the ice, kicking up a haze of diamond dust around my descending form.
Just as I predicted, the remaining tendrils completely missed me as I fell, proving that the kid needed visual confirmation to aim his ice.
I wasn't out of the woods yet, as not only did the ice double back, but the diamond dust I'd created was re-crystalizing into more spikes. Not that I planned to stick around long. I'd bought enough time to land on the roof of a partially-destroyed house.
My momentum took me right through the flimsy roof and into the house. I landed on my feet, wincing at the line of pain that went up my body. My Touki flickered, and I knew I was running on fumes at this point.
I moved before the kid's ice crashed into the house. I had to give it to him. There was no way that he could have aimed at me through the walls of the house, so he'd fallen back on a time-tested strategy.
Mass bombardment.
The door leading out of the house was blocked by a SUV-sized block of ice in a singular moment, as the shards of ice started to rain down on me.
Bereft of an easy exit, I decided it was time to make one myself.
I poured as much Touki and cursed energy as I could into my legs as I lunged forward, right at the thin wall separating the house from the others in the same lane. Muscles tightened, ripped, and reformed all in the same second, sending burning pain through my frame as moved.
I ripped straight through the wall of the house, and the next, then the one after that, and then, I lunged sideways, crashing through another wall and emerging right in front of the kid. I barely had a second to glimpse the shocked expression on his face before I was right in front of him.
"Chin up, twink!" I yelled as I moved every bit of energy I had left into one punch, hoping to god it would be a black flash.
The black sparks did not bless me again, but it wasn't needed. The kid had been able to put up a rudimentary set of defenses the moment I'd reached him. A thin, yet rapidly expanding disc of ice, and his own hands, up in a guarding position.
Neither helped him.
My fist ripped through the ice like it was paper, his arms like they were twigs, and though his ribcage like it was plywood. A burst of blood covered me as the boy went flight backward, carried by the force behind my fist, straight into the wall next to him.
His back hit it with the force of a truck and I could audibly hear bones snap, before the kid fell to the ground, limp.
Yet, he wasn't dead.
"Gods, kid. You're a fucking cockroach." I spoke as my mangled hand started to heal. My Touki was spent, and my cursed energy was running low. Yet, the kid was still healing. He still had a large chunk of cursed energy left, and if he got up, I could say goodbye to my life.
I wrenched another spear from the cold grasp of a soldier's corpse as I slowly hobbled towards the boy. He couldn't move his head, how could he, when his spine was broken. Yet I heard him make gurgling noises as the wounds on his sternum slowly healed.
"Sorry kid, but I ain't confident in a second bout with you." I spoke as I was hit the cold around me. With my Touki gone, I was no longer protected from the elements, and with the general state of my body, even the excess cold was enough to give me pause.
It was then that I felt something grab my right leg.
I tripped as vines started to constrict the rest of my body. I reinforced myself with cursed energy and broke through, only for more vines to spring out of the ground and debilitate me further, pulling me to the ground.
"You… I'll kill you!"
It was a rasping voice, owing to the fact that the kid's chest was still a bloody, concave mess. Yet, he'd stood up. He wasn't standing straight, his leg bent at an uncomfortable angle, yet as i watched, it slowly started to straighten itself with a sickening noise of tearing muscle.
His hand shot up, and with it, a single spike of ice shot at me. I couldn't move, couldn't react.
Thankfully, I didn't need to.
I only felt it for a second. A source of cursed energy so powerful that it dwarfed my maximum capacity magnitudes. A translucent, hexagonal barrier appeared before me, blocking the ice spike mid-flight.
It was then that I saw them.
They all wore white masks over white ninja shōzokus. They all perched on different buildings, yet, all their gazes were trained on one person.
The twink, who currently looked like he was in the moral dilemma of a lifetime. I watched him scan the perimeter, taking note of all the ninja that surrounded him. Yet, he paid them no heed as our eyes met again, and I saw the unbridled rage he held, hidden beneath a veneer of pain.
"My name is Uraume." He spoke, his voice less raspy than last time. "Remember my name, for one day, I will be the one to collect your head for master."
He waved a hand and my vision was blanketed by a sea of white. The barrier around me cracked, yet it held. I noticed the ninja move out of my field of view, and the vines that held down my body dissolved into ash.
Then, there was silence.
I got to my feet and scanned the area. Uraume was gone, and so were most of the Ninja. I could feel Uraume's signature moving away at a speed that I could no longer match in my current state.
I also felt the flicker of a second signature, one so small that I'd missed it in my fight with Uraume. It was following the little twink, and I was damn sure whoever that person was, they'd been the one who prevented me from killing Uraume while I had the chance.
"Goddamn twink had backup." I commented.
"Truly, not something I expected."
I turned around to face the person who had cast the barrier that had saved my life, still unable to shake the feeling I got from him at the brief reveal of his true power.
He was dressed in a typical buddhist monk costume, complete with prayer beads and hat. He had long white hair, and again, an adrogynous face. He looked young, but felt ancient. Not to the same level as someone like Wukong.
"Thanks for the assist, by the way, you really saved my hide." I thanked him, yet, his features didn't change one bit. Impassive eyes stared at me as he spoke in a baritone that did not match his look.
"No, I must apologize to you. Had me and my men intervened earlier, we could have ensured your kill. I did not foresee one of Sukuna's wards to disregard the honor of a jujutsu duel in such a flagrant manner." He spoke.
"Eh, I would've rather you helped out. That little shit's ability is no joke." I spoke, throwing away the spear I'd been holding on to a crutch as my legs were now fully repaired. "Though I'm surprised you knew the kid was Sukuna's little bitchboy."
The man was unfazed by my rather creative use of language. "We endeavor to keep track of anyone who might pose a threat to our way of life. Sukuna is chief among those threats." He spoke, waving his hand towards the destroyed village. "The Fujiwara clan was one of the strongest pillars that holds up the Jujutsu society. Now, it's nothing more than rubble and corpses. Could you believe that this was all orchestrated by one man?"
"Yep, no doubt about it." I spoke with a fake smile to hide the tingle that went up my spine as I thought back to the day I'd encountered Sukuna, surrounded by the pyre that was once Kyoto. The fact that such a beast was capable of wiping out a village this small was easy enough to believe.
It was my instant answer that finally made the man show some emotion. A slight grimace that graced his features for nary a moment, one that I would have missed had I blinked.
"You've survived Sukuna? I do not know a single person who can claim to have done that." He spoke.
"Ran into him in Kyoto. You know, the whole place was on fire, all that jazz." I spoke, casually deflecting the part where I'd survived him, considering I hadn't. Yet, it was easier to let this man believe that I'd somehow survived the Heian boogeyman than to explain to him that I was a dimension-hopper from the far future.
"You did show might far beyond the ordinary sorcerer in your fight against Uraume." He spoke. "Yet, the technique you used, the glowing barrier that surrounds your body, it is not a product of cursed energy."
I shrugged. "Yeah, that's something completely different, and before you ask, I don't think it can be taught to anyone else."
The sigh that came from his was enough proof that I'd understood his intentions well. "Truly a shame. A tool like that would have been a godsend for what I was planning." he then sized me up before putting a hand under his chin. "Yet, you're a wildcard, someone that could help immensely with what I plan to do."
I raised an eyebrow at that. "And what is it that you're planning. For that matter, who even are you?"
"My name," He spoke with a bow. It wasn't a bow of respect, but of formality, of acknowledgement. "Is Tengen."
"And I wish to rid this world of Ryomen Sukuna before he sets it all aflame." he finished, offering me his hand.
"I did not come here to aid the Fujiwara. They were fools. Drunk with power, they thought that they could take on Sukuna alone. That they could succeed where the Desshi pacification squad and their Angel failed." He spoke, bowing to the corpse of a civilian propped up against a wall.
"They paid for their hubris, as all the other clans predicted. Their strongest squads lay dead, the five hollow general are no more. They lost. Yet, they had a reason to believe they stood a chance at victory." He spoke, pointing towards the main compound house.
"What? Like a weapon? Cuz I'm not sure what kind of weapon could take down a monster like Sukuna." I replied.
"Taking him down was never an option. Hurting him was. The Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad was the strongest group of Jujutsu sorcerers in the world save for Sukuna. Yet, they faced him at their weakest. Do you know why?" He asked.
I shook my head, prompting him to continue.
"The squad was once led by someone so formidable that the other clans cowered when they heard her name." He spoke, walking towards the house, beckoning for me to follow.
"If she was so great, why didn't they take her to fight him?" I asked, and for once, Tengen's features softened as a smile came to his face.
"Her circumstances are her own to explain, if she so chooses. For all intents and purposes, though, she was supposed to die here. Not as a warrior, but as a criminal." He spoke.
"All for a crime she did not commit." he stopped in front of the house. Facing me.
"With her help, should I be able to barter for it, I can create for us a chance to truly damage Sukuna." He spoke, gazing at me. "With her and you, on the other hand, there is a chance, however slim, to rid this world of a great evil."
"So, I ask again, will you join me?" He asked, but my concentration was somewhere else.
Namely, the popup that had just appeared in front of me.
World Quest Unlocked: Heian Hell
Main Quest: Join Tengen's Crusade
Subquest 1: Defend The Fujiwara Clan Compound - Complete
Subquest 2: Defeat Uraume - Complete
Guess I didn't have a choice after all.
"Sure, though I'll be honest. I'm not sure what I'll be able to do against Sukuna." I answered, and the main quest completed in front of my eyes.
It was like time itself stopped.
World Quest: Heian Hell - Completed!
Reward - Genetic Gift (Human)
They call them prodigies to hide the fact that most of them are just genetic freaks
There was no download of information this time, but i felt a lightness envelop my body. My recent training had made me beyond athletic, even by the standards of an olympian. This? This was not a boost, it was a guarantee that at the peak of my potential, there would not exist a single human better than me in any aspect.
Subquest 1: Defend The Fujiwara Clan Compound - Complete
Reward - Gift of Strength (Small)
Get used to the feeling, even though it never gets old.
There was no change in my outward appearance, but i could feel the difference in capability. Somehow, the Gift of Strength had increased all aspects of my physical prowess uniformly. If I'd gotten this before fighting Uraume, I wouldn't even need Touki to do all that I'd done.
And this boost was labeled 'small', which implied there were levels to this. By my calculations, I could say with certainty that all my physical parameters had been increased by at least fifty percent.
If the small boost was so powerful, just how powerful would the larger boosts be?
Subquest 2: Defeat Uraume - Complete
Reward - Malevolent Kitchen
It was ONE mistranslation! The joke just won't die
This one was much simpler, yet all the more baffling. There was no combat application to being a chef, yet here I'd been given the ability to summon a spectral kitchen wherever I wanted. Complete with any ingredient, condiment, or utensil I could possibly need.
That was the easy part. The harder part was the information download. Hundreds of thousands of recipes, as well as methods of preparation were instantly crammed into my mind with the subtlety of a trash compactor.
Huh, who knew that human meat could be used for so many godforsaken recipes?
With a simple confirmation, I closed the window, and time resumed as usual. If Tengen saw something unusual, he didn't show it on his face. Not that he was very emotive to begin with. Instead, he continued out conversation like nothing happened.
"You undersell yourself. Do you know how many sorcerers have lost their lives to Uraume?" He asked.
"I assume it's a lot. The twink definitely acted like some sort of big shot" I shot back.
"After Sukuna, it's likely that he's the person that's killed the second most number of sorcerers." He spoke. "Do you believe you can take him on again and come out victorious."
I nodded. "I'm pretty sure I can take care of the twink if we tussle again." I spoke.
"Good. That confidence is necessary if you are to face either Sukuna or his ward." Tengen spoke, offering me his hand again. This time, I shook it without hesitation.
"Akira Shun, at your service." I shook his hand, and allowed myself a small smile as I saw another popup appear in front of my face, unbeknownst to Tengen.
World Quest Unlocked: Capital Crashers
Main Quest: Change This World's Fate
Subquest 1: ?
Subquest 2: ?
"With your help, we may yet lay this great evil to rest." Tengen spoke, a gentle smile on his face.
"I won't hold my breath." I joked, "But at the very least, we can make Sukuna hurt."
"That's all we can ask for, Akira-san."
Uraume POV
There were new pieces on the board.
I hunched over by a river, retching blood as my lungs slowly healed, expelling all the excess blood that had painted my insides.
I'd been able to escape with my life. That itself was a shock. I'd considered myself dead the moment that uncouth swine had landed his punch. Had I even been a second later with my own defenses, or had the fist connected with my head there was no doubt in my mind that I would be nothing more than a smear on the ground. Yet, I'd managed that, only to be smeared on a wall like a crushed fly.
It was when the boy was about to finish me off that I'd heard it. The voice. It spoke directly into my head, telling me one simple word.
"Run."
It had incensed me at first. I was my master's vassal. My defeat would be a blemish on his honor. No. I had to kill the boy. The boy who was being attacked by vines, of all things.
Lying on the ground, he'd looked just like a present. For a second, I'd halted myself. There was no honor in such a kill. It wasn't a kill I'd earnt. I should have left that instance, escaped with my life.
Yet, in my hubris, I'd tried to kill him, and it was then that I'd felt it.
That…thing. It was no human. The boy himself was an anomaly with how much cursed energy he had in him. Yet the presence I'd felt for a second dwarfed even Lord Sukuna's own.
Even the thought made me angry. How dare someone pretend to be greater than my master in any regard?
That creature's existence was blasphemous, but not as blasphemous as the boy he'd fought.
His clothes were too foreign for this world. The way he fought was unskilled, yet overpowering. The power he used was derived from a source unconnected to cursed energy.
Worst of all, he claimed that he'd met master, seen master use his technique, and still somehow survived.
I couldn't suffer his existence. Once I was healed, I'd hunt him to the ends of the earth if need be. Had it not been for the surprises the boy had thrown at me, I'd have killed him with ease.
"My my, if looks could kill…"
My hand shot out, and a spear of ice shot out at the source of the voice, only to be intercepted by a wall of vines.
"Is that how you greet your savior?"
He was standing right next to me.
I couldn't even attack before he grabbed my arm. Fear flooded my mind, enough to briefly break my near-perfect facade. Yet, instead of attacking me, I felt as the man started to circulate positive cursed energy through me, healing the shattered bones in my arm.
I then got a good look at his face.
He looked… nondescript. He had the face of a commoner, yet he wore raiments of silk that could make even the richest of nobles jealous. On his head, he wore a wide bamboo hat, and I could see why.
There were stitch marks circling his head, like his head had been cut open. Yet, he lived.
"Who are you?" I asked, knowing full well that if push came to shove, I was in no state to take on someone who had moved this close to me without me even noticing.
"Oh little Uraume." He spoke, leaning down till our faces were only inches away from one another. I stared into his eyes, trying to discern any form of emotion, any weakness, anything.
They were void, dead inside. The light was simply not there.
"It's not about who am I, but what I can do for you and your master." he spoke, and my blood boiled.
"You think a little worm like you can accomplish something that my master cannot?" I roared, and felt a shiver creep up my spine as a chilling, inhuman smile crept up the man's face.
"Oh, dear Uraume. There's a lot your master cannot do in one lifetime." He spoke, letting go of my hand.
"He is a genius. Without doubt, he is the strongest sorcerer to have ever existed." He spoke, slowly walking towards me. Unbidden, I found myself taking steps backwards, hoping to god I didn't trip and fall in front of this monster in human flesh.
"Yet, at the end of the day. He is still mortal." He spoke into my ear, suddenly right next to me. I hadn't even seen him move, and my eyes hadn't left him for a second.
I was in no position to deny him. Not here, not even when I'd be fully healed up. The gulf of ability was too wide.
"What I'm offering is a way to change that. For both of you." He spoke.
"After all, wouldn't you and your master like to live forever?"
7K word chapter, not too long, not too short. Honestly I want to settle into a cadence of 5K word chapters so I can push them out weekly or faster, but as it stands, I still have some work to do before I am able to pull that off.
Again, I'm very much looking for Beta readers for both Quixotic and Empyrean. If you would like to apply, feel free to ping me here or on my discord.
Finally, I'm going to be putting Pick and Roll on ice. The story just isn't flowing the way I want it to, and I'd rather spend my time on my stories that are actually fun to write.
I'll be putting up a poll on my discord server for the story that will replace Pick and Roll. I have a few interesting concepts lined up, so if you are interested in the process of choosing which one I'll write next, join the server!
The link to the server is (slash)DQnmaHECfA for anyone who wants to join.
Happy reading!
- Cold Daylight